This invention relates to a system for pleasurable use by people of all ages with youthful minds in operating remotely controlled vehicles simultaneously in a somewhat confined area. In the system of this invention, the vehicles can be remotely controlled to perform competitive or cooperative tasks. The system of this invention includes pads for operation by the users, vehicles remotely controlled in accordance with the operation of the pads and a central station for coordinating the operation of the pads and the vehicles. The invention additionally relates to methods of controlling the operation of the vehicles on a remotely controlled basis.
The system and method of this invention include first and second intercoupled support structures which may, but do not have to be, intercoupled. The first support structure provides for the movement of first vehicles in any direction on the support structure. The second support structure provides a track for a movement of an additional vehicle on the track. The additional vehicle may be a monorail. The first and second support structures are formed from coupling members (e.g. beams), all of the same construction, intercoupled to one another and to blocks, all of the same construction.
Various types of play systems exist, and have existed for some time, in which vehicles are moved on a remotely controlled basis. However, such systems generally provide one hand-held unit and one remotely controlled vehicle for operation by the hand-held unit. Examples of a vehicle in such a system are a toy automobile or a toy airplane. Furthermore, the functions of the remotely controlled unit, other than movement along a floor or along the ground or in the air, are quite limited.
Other types of play systems involve the use of blocks for building structures. These blocks often include detents for providing an interlocking relationship between abutting blocks. In this way, elaborate structures can be created by users with creative minds. These systems do not involve the use of a plurality of vehicles, each of which is individually addressed and each of which is controlled on a remote basis.
Tests have indicated that there is a desirability, and even a need, for play systems in which vehicles are remotely operated to perform functions other than to move aimlessly along a floor or along the ground. For example, tests have indicated that there is a desirability, and even a need, for play systems in which the remotely controlled vehicles can transport elements such as blocks to construct creative structures. There is also a desirability, and even a need, for play systems in which a plurality of vehicles can be remotely controlled by switches in hand-held pads to compete against one another in performing a first task or to cooperate in performing a second task. Such a desirability, or even a need, has existed for a long period of time, probably decades, without a satisfactory resolution.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,607 issued to John J. Crane on Aug. 31, 1999, for a xe2x80x9cRemote Control System for Operating Toysxe2x80x9d and assigned of record to the assignee of record of this application discloses and claims a play system for use by people of all ages with youthful minds. It provides for a simultaneous control by each player of an individual one of a plurality of remotely controlled vehicles. This control is provided by the operation by each player of switches in a hand-held unit or pad. The operation of each switch in such hand-held unit provide for an addressing of an individual one of the remotely controlled vehicles and for a control of a different function in the vehicle. Each of the remotely controlled vehicles in the system disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,607 can be operated in a competitive relationship with others of the remotely controlled vehicles or in a cooperative relationship with others of the remotely controlled vehicles. The vehicles can be constructed to pick up and transport elements such as blocks or marbles and to deposit such elements at displaced positions.
When manually closed in one embodiment of the system disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,607, switches in pads control the selection of toy vehicles and the operation of motors for moving the selected vehicles forwardly, rearwardly, to the left and to the right and control the movement moving upwardly and downwardly (and rightwardly and leftwardly) of a receptacle for holding transportable elements (e.g. marbles or blocks).
When interrogated by a central station, each pad in the system disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,607 sends through wires to the central station signals indicating the switch closures in such pad. Such station produces first binary signals addressing the vehicle selected by such pad and second binary signals identifying the motor control operations in such vehicle. Thereafter the switches identifying in such pad the motor control operations in such selected vehicle can be closed without closing the switches addressing such vehicle. The central station then identifies the vehicle on the basis of the command signals from the pad even though the pad does not identify the vehicle. The central station identifies the vehicle in this manner because the central station stores the relationship between the pad and the vehicle.
The first and second signals for each vehicle in the system disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,607 are transmitted by wireless by the central station to all of the vehicles at a common carrier frequency modulated by the first and second binary signals. The vehicle identified by the transmitted address demodulates the modulating signals and operates its motors in accordance with such demodulation. When the vehicle fails to receive signals from a pad for a particular period of time, the vehicle previously selected by such pad becomes available for selection by that pad or any other pad and that pad can select that vehicle or another vehicle.
In the preferred embodiment disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,135 issued on Mar. 30, 1999, and assigned of record to the assignee of record of this application, a key in a vehicle socket closes contacts to reset a microcontroller in the vehicle to a neutral state. Ribs disposed in a particular pattern in the key operate switches in a particular pattern in the vehicle to provide an address for the vehicle and to dispose the vehicle in an inactive but powered state.
As disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,135, when the vehicle receives such individual address from an individual one of the pads, the vehicle is operated by commands transmitted by the pad to the vehicle within a first particular time thereafter. Such individual pad operates such vehicle as long as such vehicle receives commands from such individual pad within the first particular period after the previous command from such individual pad. During this period, the vehicle has a first illumination to indicate that it is being operated in an active and powered state.
When the individual pad in U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,135 fails to provide commands to such vehicle within such first particular time period, the vehicle becomes inactive but powered and provides a second illumination. While inactive but powered, the vehicle can be addressed and subsequently commanded by any pad including the individual pad and the addressing pad thereafter commands the vehicle. The vehicle becomes deactivated and not illuminated if (a) the vehicle is not selected by any of the pads during a second particular time period after becoming inactivated but powered or, alternatively, (b) all of the vehicles become inactivated but powered and none is selected during the second particular period. The key can thereafter be actuated to operate the vehicle to the inactive but powered state.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,394 issued on Oct. 27, 1998, and assigned of record to the assignee of record of this application discloses and claims preferred embodiments of coupling members (e.g. beams) which can be intercoupled or can be coupled to blocks to form support structure on which the vehicles can be transported in any desired direction. Each of the beams has the same male detents, and the same female detents, as the other beams. The blocks have only the female detents. The male detent on each beam intercouples with a female detent on any other coupling beam, or intercouples with one of the female detents on one of the blocks, to form the support structure. This support structure can be of any complex configuration involving some creativity. The support structure can have any desired configuration. Furthermore, the female detents on a single block can operate in conjunction with a number of beams to extend the support structure in as many as six (6) different directions. The male and female detents can be easily coupled to one another and can be easily separated from one another. However, when the beams are intercoupled or the beams and blocks are intercoupled, a strong and effective relationship exists between them.
An opening is provided in at least a particular one of the faces, and preferably in the four (4) faces defining a closed loop, in the beam disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,394. These openings define the female detents. Substantially parallel snaps extend from the other two (2) beam walls and have at their outer ends portions shaped to facilitate (a) insertion of such snaps into the opening in the particular face of the block or into the opening in a face of another beam, (b) retention of the snaps by the inner surface of the face defining the opening and (c) removal of the snaps from the opening. Such portions are shaped for the snaps on the beams to be pulled, peeled or bent from the faces in the blocks. When the beams become decoupled from the blocks the snaps may be considered as the male detents.
When the block disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,394 has an opening in each of its six (6) faces, snaps from six (6) different beams can extend into the six (6) different openings in six (6) different directions in the block without any interference in the block between the snaps in the six (6) beams. In this way, complex structures can be formed from the blocks and the beams. Other structures such as vehicle ramps, building roofs, awnings and corbels can be disposed in cooperative relationship with structure formed from the blocks and the beams and can be intercoupled into the supporting structure by male and female detents in the vehicle ramps, building roofs, awnings and corbel.
Since the block and the beams disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,394 have the shapes of rectangular prisms, they have a uniform disposition on a support surface such as a floor or a table. Furthermore, since such block preferably has six (6) faces all of substantially identical construction and all defining female detents, children can easily assembly the snaps at either of the opposite ends of the beam into the opening in any one of the faces in the block without affecting the relationship between the block and the beam when other beams are attached to other faces of the block.
The blocks and the beams disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,394 also have other advantages. Only blocks and beams are required to construct complex structures. This is in contrast to the prior art where a number of different types of members are required to construct complex structures. Furthermore, the openings in the blocks in the system of this invention constitute female members. This provides for a universality in the use of the blocks. When the blocks have openings in all six (6) of their faces, any of the faces can be coupled to one of the beams. This enhances the universality in the usage of the system in constructing creative structures of some complexity.
The blocks and beams have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,394 as being preferably rectangular. However, the beams can be curved in any desired shape as a practical manner without departing from the scope of the preferred embodiment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,394. Even when curved, the beam can be intercoupled with a block and with other beams in the same manner as described above.
The preferred embodiment of this invention utilizes features disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,944,607, 5,888,135 and 5,826,394, all assigned of record to the assignee of record of this application. The preferred embodiments of this invention combine these features with features individual to the preferred embodiments of this invention to obtain a unique and patentable toy system with enhanced features. In this toy system, one of the vehicles can constitute a monorail constructed to ride on a track formed from the beams and the blocks.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, each of first vehicles has an individual address dependent upon an insertion of a selective one of different keys into a socket in the vehicle. Each of the first vehicles is movable in any desired direction on a first support structure formed by intercoupling male detents on first beams and female detents on other beams, all of them having the same construction, and by intercoupling the male detents on the beams to female detents on blocks, all having an identical construction.
The first support structure may be, but does not have to be, intercoupled with a second support structure formed by intercoupling beams and blocks of the same type as the beams and blocks in the first structure. The second structure defines a track on which an additional vehicle addressable in the same manner as the first vehicles is movable in first and second opposite directions. The additional vehicle may constitute a monorail.
The additional vehicle has rollers for driving the vehicle (e.g., monorail) on the track and has guides (e.g., positioning rollers) disposed contiguous to the side surfaces of the track blocks for retaining the vehicle on the track during the vehicle movement on the track. Each vehicle has motor(s) for moving the vehicle on its support structure and has members for performing function(s) other than vehicular movements. The members may be controlled by motors different from the motors for moving the vehicles.
Each of a plurality of manually operated pads generates signals for addressing any unaddressed vehicle (including the first vehicles and the additional vehicle) and for providing movements of, and the performance of functions in, the vehicle when addressed. Each pad may control the operation of one of the vehicles not addressed by the other pads. Each pad communicates to a central station the signals generated by the pad. This communication is through wires connected between the pad and the central station. The central station communicates these signals by wireless to the vehicles.